a dining room kitchen bathroom
The second floor comprises of two bedrooms for that.
So again, this is the front.
This is the side that's for the third floor.
And then this is the rear for the second floor unit.
Let's go into actual pictures.
So this is the unit one.
This is unit one.
This is the bedroom.
This is the den.
this is the bedroom
this is the kitchen
and then this is what I was discussing right here
this is the second
this is the second apartment
unit 2 this is the exterior
this is the bath
the den
in the bedroom for that one in the kitchen.
And then this is the unit three.
This is the side entrance of it,
which you walk upstairs and then that leads to the third floor.
I mean, the second floor, I'm sorry, the second floor,
which is the entire of unit three.
And that's the two bedrooms. This is one bedroom. This is the other bedroom. This is the bath.
There was significant support in the community for this particular project.
There were 71 petitions or letters, 71 nearby neighbors that signed or were in support of
this particular project.
Now, no, I'm sorry, not 78, 48. I'm sorry, 49. Now, I did want to address briefly the letter of opposition.
There were no nearby neighbors that appeared at the community meeting, and only the RCO gave their position as to what their position was as to this.
Let's see. Here's the notice of refusal.
and again this is the referring of it uh the letter the meeting summary there were no members
of the community that was present so i think that is pretty uh that's pretty significant even though
notice was given to the nearby neighbors only the applicant and rco whereby the rco made the
presentation. This is the letter that was submitted to this board in opposition.
This is the ownership, evidence of ownership. Again, this property was purchased
September, seven months ago, September the 3rd of last year. I'll have, I'll note that the property
is here's the tax clearance again there is a an active two-family for this
particular property and I would note that the property is vacant my client
decided not to do any sort of renting out for the property even though he has
an active license uh he decided not to do anything uh pending this and uh there are
yep there's another multi-family on the same block and uh that is it as far as the uh
presentation i'd like to call my client jermaine why don't you do this why don't you respond to
a couple of these things are in the letter. They're talking about size of units and maybe
combining. Could you at least respond or tell us what you think of what they're saying there?
Tell us what you think, what they're saying there. I mean, I know you're saying they didn't live there, but they're raising some issues that I think you might want to respond to.
I mean, I know you're saying they didn't live there, but they're raising some
Okay. Let me get my client, because I think it would be better to hear from him to resolve to do that. Could I promote, could I have him promote it?
Jitu, could you raise your hand, please?
Jitu, you have pictures of the inside?
Yes, I thought that I, uh, yeah, these are all, this is all the inside.
Yeah, I think, I think somebody has to respond to what they've reached. I really do.
Okay. It's fair enough. I'm just, because he articulated it much better than I could.
Uh, hold on.
Please, it's only second floor right he said he raised his hand he's trying to he's on the call right now.
Yes, we can we promote you to George.
Oh, you're trying to. Okay.
i'm going to promote them right now chair all right thank you very much thank you
hey there can you hear me i can could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer
yeah of course it's j-2-j-i-t-t-u last name is george g-e-o-r-g-e you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth is nothing but the truth i swear remain proceed okay so sir uh
mr george did you review the this letter uh that is on uh the screen right now yes i did okay uh
And you saw the concerns that the RCO had to this. Could you briefly respond to that?
Yeah, of course. Yeah, I think the main thing that they had pointed out was that the size of the units they thought were too small.
And I just wanted to address that really quick. So the way the home is set up right now, it has three separate entrances.
There's one on 24th Street, which is a dedicated entrance to our unit one, which is the studio unit.
So the total square footage of that unit is 360 square foot.
It has the studio bedroom in the front that also has the kitchen, and then there's a separate den.
The rear unit, which is unit two, it is 420 square foot.
And then the upstairs unit on the second floor, which has a two-bedroom, is 750 square footage altogether.
So, I mean, these are, you know, fairly sized in terms of it being a studio unit, a one-bedroom unit, and a two-bedroom unit.
So I actually met with the RCO rep on site because she wanted to go over and see the property herself.
um and i i think it is just her opinion on the size of the units you know i think these are
these are fairly sized for what it's designed to do um it's not like a crammed one room um
where there's absolutely no space for anything so i think it's just one person's perspective
on these units but based on the square footage and what the the requirements are for these units
to be code compliant um they're they're they're more than fairly sized
now mr george did you hear the testimony that i gave to this board i did yes okay
now other than the statements uh that the explanation that you gave regarding the size
of the units do you have anything else to add to the presentation other than
what I just stated you don't have to but is there anything else that you would
like to add yeah just a couple more really quick things and I think the RCO
had said that because there's a common hallway there's a risk of safety well
which I you know I fail to understand because common hallways are a very
common thing in multifamily units so the two downstairs units they have
So the two downstairs units, they have separate entrances.
separate entrances so the
So the tenants in those units can access their own separate entrances to enter their units.
The common hallway in the middle, it's primarily intended for the second floor tenant,
although it does provide access to the two units on the first floor.
Now, the main reason why this property has become an issue where combining the two units downstairs is not possible is exactly due to this reason, because there is that common hallway that separates the front unit and the back unit.
So, like, I could not combine the two without the upstairs tenant having access to the middle of this new, quote-unquote, hypothetical home, if that makes sense.
so there's a common hallway between the front unit and the rear unit unless i reconstructed
the whole home i could not combine both of those units because this common common hallway um now
like you stated jermaine when i council one minute why don't you put the plans up while
yeah that's exactly what i was doing okay that's exactly what i was doing that's great
yeah so if you look at this plan um the hold on can you zoom out so we can see the whole plan
because i feel like you keep you could go in a little bit more but like if you could have it
from yes no back there you go back out yeah could you zoom out a little bit you had it and then you
zoomed in again jermaine could you yes just leave it right don't touch it
okay all right yeah so on the left hand side of this drawing which is on west oakdale street
that entrance right there is the entrance to the common hallway so everything on top of that
is unit two everything to the bottom of it is unit one now when you go straight through
you have the stairs which will take you to a part unit three which is which
come which is everything on the second floor it's a two-bedroom unit so what
the RCO was saying was that I should combine unit one which is in the in the
front and unit two on the back but there's no way for me to do that because
of this common hallway which leads you to unit three which is upstairs I
I understand that. Alternatively, though, you could combine unit one and unit three and just seal off unit two.
I absolutely could. Yeah. I have the problem. Those entrances to unit to the now combined unit.
Right. Now, finding a tenant to occupy a space like that where it's two different kitchens and it's designed in a way where it's intended for three family.
you know that also becomes challenging and I would have to yeah I mean I don't know that
I would keep the kitchen I think the kitchens actually for that to be a smaller kitchen but
I mean it is possible to combine units is the only point I was trying to make yeah thank
you yeah yeah that is not something I would prefer to do which you know again
would require some construction and taking this kitchen down or finding a
tenant that would want two kitchens which you know would raise the the rent
of the that unit altogether the at the moment the way it stands I'm looking at
renting at the um three families and in a manner where it's affordable enough for the community but
i think yeah you say three families in that small one what family that's
370 some square feet three three tenants let me rephrase three tenants okay yes so i have a
question about this unit too um okay i see it says a den so that's the uh that would that be
considered the living area so it's really a one-bedroom unit two is really a one-bedroom
apartment unit two is a one-bedroom that is correct unit two is a one-bedroom one unit
one is a one-bedroom also with a small with with a smaller den well a studio with a smaller
that is correct yeah unit one is a studio unit two is a one bedroom and unit three which is upstairs
3, which is upstairs is a 2 bedroom any other 1.
is a two-bedroom.
Anybody have questions not a question, but these look.
This looks awfully small I have to agree with the.
And I can't you can't do this there's there's no real living space.
I don't. Okay. And can I can I see the second floor?
You want to see the plants? The one for the the second floor one.
but the unit. Yeah, the unit three.
Okay. So it's got a kitchen and a dining room. Yeah, you have my pet peeve where you have to
to wander through the dining room in the kitchen to get to a bathroom.
So, okay, I just any other questions.
One other question where's the actual like locked front door for unit three, because right now everyone has access to the shared hallway, and I'm not seeing the locked door at the top of the stairs.
go to the go to the first floor plan again
i guess that's what that is at the bottom of the steps
it's like i guess that's supposed to be a door is that that is okay that is correct yeah that's
where the door the locked door is located yeah only unit three has access to the stairwell
that is correct yes and then is there a basement there's no basement no basement
okay and what is the trash plan for the three units
well wait if there's no basement then where are the utilities
well so you know what let me let me rephrase so there there's no
basement that's accessible by the units there's um um one of those sidewalk doors
that you open up to go underneath that's where the the water correct correct yeah that's where
the access to the basement currently that is the only access to the basement correctly yeah
and my question was about trash storage for the units how are you planning on manage trash for
the three units i believe mr george said he's going to put it in the rear of the building
there's no rear see there's no rear there's alley
okay are there any other questions
It'd be good to see the pictures in color, but, you know, I don't know why we're black and white, but.
Questions from our attorney.
I just I was a little confused because you included in your exhibit packet active rental license for two units for this property.
Right. We were just showing that this property is an active it is an active multifamily.
That's what we were that's what we were just showing.
Yeah. So how did I guess my question is, how did how did that occur, given its single family zoning?
There was a history of this property since I believe looking at Atlas, it looks like it's been a history of this property being a two family.
So that's how since the early 80s.
I guess my question is, is it by variance or was it previously zoned for two family?
It was by, it was by variance.
All right.
Thank you.
All right.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, I have a hand up from number, from the number, and they can 3552, so I'm sure, speak.
So I'm poodle?
Yes, I'm poodle.
oh hello hi could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes adrian fernandez my last name is spelled f-e-r-n-a-n-d-e-z do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed okay um swamp with rco was
opposed to this variance in this single-family home. This is also on one of the small streets
in our neighborhood. I think it's called Oakdale and 24th. The yard has been removed
and the shed, it's unclear whether that's legal or not, but it seems like
the illegal living in the space is using the shed as living space, which usually they aren't even
insulated or sound structures um there's a lot of units packed into what's what is a small
single-family home and this house should be rented as a single-family home
single-family home rentals are very successful in our area people rent them long term and at market
rates we are opposed to multi-family at this location there's nowhere to put the trash because
there is no backyard zero space in the back no space on the side and there's no space outside
if the board votes to grant this variance we're asking for provisos of a limit of two units
all trash stored in door with ventilation and no basement living and no shed living
thank you hold it council do you have any questions no i don't have any questions
um anyone else in the virtual audience no further hands mr chair planning commission
amy boyd with the planning commission
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning
to the existing R1 residential multifamily.
Oh, I'm sorry.
To the RSA 5 residential single family.
The property has a history of two spaces,
including two dwelling units.
There is no evidence that the property was converted
into three units with the benefit of permits.
The planning commission recommends
that the board grant the request advance
for a multifamily with proviso max two units.
We're going to hold this till next Wednesday. We're going to vote at 2 p.m. and we'll have that in the morning. We'll be in an executive session and talk about it and go over all the things we heard. Okay. So next Wednesday at 2 p.m.